SWEET OBLIVION: Relentless (HEAVY METAL): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

In 2019 we all welcomed the return of Geoff Tate to the business after the dissolution of his combo Operation: Mindcrime. The latter was indeed going from bad to worse, the peak being reached with the calamitous "The New Reality", third opus of the band. Music Waves had hoped that his new project, called Sweet Oblivion, would not be just a flash in the pan, and that a follow-up would be given to his eponymous first try. Was the new artistic life of the Queensrÿche singer going to be prolonged? That was the question at the time.

You won't find any of the original band's musicians on this opus. Sweet Oblivion having been conceived by Frontiers to relaunch the career of the Master, only Geoff Tate remains at the helm. He is supported here by the guitarist of Secret Sphere, Aldo Lonobile who also takes care of the production. The writing of the ten pieces which are proposed to us here is to put to his credit as much as to the famous frontman.

When listening to their 2019 album, it was clear that Sweet Oblivion was looking to attract the nostalgic fans of the best Queensrÿche's works. And it is in all logic that the famous trilogy "Rage For Order", "Operation Mindcrime" and "Empire" hovers again on this "Relentless". The heavy sound of the combo hits the listener here and Tate's melodious vocals complete the job. "Relentless" is full of catchy tracks bringing us back to the good old days. The riffs sent by Lonobile have nothing to envy to those of Mularoni (DGM) on the previous opus. Percussive and melodious, as well as the soli that are scattered throughout the work, they firmly support Tate's carrying vocal lines.

"Relentless" does not necessarily contain a hit that stands out from its congeners. The work is thus linear in its quality, and to single out one track would be to show injustice towards the nine others. At most we can note that one of them is sung in Italian ('Aria'). It is Tate himself who insisted on this particularity, as a tribute to the transalpine people with whom he has found a second youth.

So the beautiful story continues. We hoped so, but doubted that it could be so. So many revivals have indeed disappointed us. But there is no question of that here: Geoff Tate has found a new family that allows him to rediscover his former sensations. Also, let us not sulk this pleasure which allows us to plunge back into these atmospheres which brought so many magic moments in the past. - Official website

SWEET OBLIVION

RELENTLESS

FRONTIERS RECORDS

HEAVY METAL